Disposable serving tray



Dec. 10, 1963 V F. MEAGHER DISPOSABLE SERVING TRAY 2 Sheets-Shet 1 FiledDec. 20, 1961 INVENTOR. fXfO Z. Alf/467967? BY 0% W WM flf'iM/YLUS Dec.10, 1963 F. L. MEAGHER 3,113,710

DIIIISPOSABLE SERVING TRAY United States Patent 3,113,710 DISPOSABLESERVING TRAY Fred L. Meagher, Blairstown, N.J., assignor to American fanCompany, New York, N.Y., a corporation of New ersey Filed Dec. 20, 1961,Ser. No. 160,798

6 Claims. (Cl. 229-Z.5)

This invention relates to disposable serving trays and plates andparticularly to fibre food serving ware of the type known in the tradeas paper plates.

Disposable paper plates and trays have long enjoyed wide utility in thehome, in restaurants, and for parties and picnics. More recently,passenger carriers, including rail, bus and the airlines, haverecognized the desirability of disposable tableware for serving meals enroute. The popularity of paper ware, generally, resides largely in itslow cost and disposability, features which enable the serving of largegroups without the attendant problems of storage and washing after useas is the case with the more expensive earthen and metal dish ware.

A major disadvantage of paper plates and trays, however, has been theirlow structural strength. Made of thin fibre stock which is relativelyflexible, they tend to buckle and lose their shape when filled withfood. They are thus difiicult to handle and frequently result in messyspillage and loss of food. This problem is aggravated by the tendency ofthe fibre to soften, particularly when exposed to hot runny foods andliquids which reduces somewhat the strength of the fibre. Thisrepresents a serious drawback to the use of paper plates and traysparticularly in those instances where the food is served in one area andconsumed in another. For example, it is the usual practice in passengercarriers where meals are served en route to prepare the food in thekitchenette compartment and thereafter carry individual servings to thepassengers in their seats. It will be appreciated how difficult it isfor the hostess or the one doing the serving to negotiate the distanceto the passengers seats Without spilling the food, particularly in amoving vehicle which is never stable but more often than not issubjected to severe jostling, jolting and rocking motion.

An important object of the instant invention therefore is to provide adisposable serving tray which overcomes the disadvantages of the priorart.

Another object of this invention is to provide a disposable serving trayof improved structural strength and rigidity.

A further object of this invention is to provide a disposable fibreserving tray of improved structural strength and rigidity with little orno change in the quantity of material used in its manufacture.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a disposable fibreserving tray of improved structural strength and rigidity which isespecially adapted for accommodating a complete meal service includingauxiliary items such as containers of beverage, dessert, condiments and/or dressings.

Numerous other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparentas it is better understood from the following description, which, takenin connection with the accompanying drawings, discloses a preferredembodiment thereof.

It has been found that these objects may be achieved by providing aspaced wall tray comprising a shallow dish-shaped member provided withservice receiving portions placed within and in overlying relation to adeeper dish-shaped member with the two members being pressed togetherand firmly bonded at their peripheral marginal edges.

Referring to the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a plan view of one form of the invention;

3,113,710 Patented Dec. 10, 1963 FIG. 2 is a front elevation of theinvention of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken substantially along lines 3--3 of FIG.1;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken substantially along lines 4-4 of FIG.1;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken substantially along lines 5-5 of FIG.1;

FIG. 6 is a plan view of another form of the invention; and

FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken substantially along lines 7--7 of FIG.6.

FIGURE 1 illustrates a preferred or exemplary form of the instantinvention, showing a serving tray generally designated 10 having arecessed food area 11 and a plurality of service areas 12 foraccommodating auxiliary containers of beverage, dessert, condiments,dressings and the like. Although conventionally rectangular or circularin form, the tray may be of any desired configuration. As shown in FIG.2, it is of a generally dishshaped construction so that the food andservice areas are recessed within the peripheral rim of the tray.

The construction of the preferred form of the tray is best illustratedin the sectional views of FIGS. 35. Referring first to FIG. 3, tray 10is shown comprising an upper dish-shaped panel generally designated 20recessed in and overlying a lower dish-shaped panel generally designated21. Upper panel 20 is substantially shallower than the lower panel andincludes a planar wall 22 surrounded by an upstanding inclined wall 23which terminates in a peripheral rim 24. A recessed portion 25 in planarWall 22 defines the food area 11 in the upper panel. Portion 25 may beany desired configuration and include all or merely a portion of theavailable area of wall 22, but is shown as a generally oblong depressioncovering approximately half of the available wall area.

Lower panel 21 includes a substantially planar central wall 26 and asurrounding upstanding peripheral wall 27 which terminates in aperipheral rim 28 underlying rim 24 of the upper panel. The two panelsare bonded together at their rims 24, 28 by adhesive or other bondingagent, resulting in the spaced wall tray 10 of rigid construction.

Preferably, the two panels are of thin fibre or paper stock, and it isthe spacing apart of the panels and their bonding together at theirperipheral rims which adds rigidity to otherwise flexible members. Withthis construction, it has been found that the panels 20, 21 may besubstantially thinner than the conventional single wall trays and thatimproved structural rigidity is achieved even where the combinedthickness of the two panels is substantially that of conventional trays.Thus, there is the obvious advantage of improved structuralcharacteristics with little or no increase in stock thickness. Moreover,the spaced wall tray 10 has the advantage of presenting a bottom surfacethat is substantially continuous and uniform, since the food and servicedepressions are contained in the upper panel. This makes the tray easierto handle, provides a good supporting surface and frequently may help toabsorb the gripping pressure of a person holding the tray which at timescould otherwise cause buckling of the tray due to jolting or otherunnatural movements. The relative spacing of tray panels 20, 21 alsoprovides a structure conveniently suited for accommodating containers ofauxiliary serv-. ice, as hereinafter will be more fully described.

If desired, the structural rigidity of tray 10 may be further enhancedby providing one or more projections 29 in central wall 26 of the lowerpanel which extend upwardly into supporting engagement with upper panel20. In the form shown in FIG. 3, projection 29 is spaced substantiallycentrflly of and in supporting engagement with depression 25. This lendsadded support to food area 11 particularly at such times as the personusing the tray desires to cut meat or other food items requiringcutting. Projection 29 may be adhesively secured or otherwise bonded tothe upper panel and may be in the form of ribbing or other stiffeningstructure which extends in underlying engagement with upper panel 20, asdesired.

Turning now to FIG. 4, service areas 12 provided in upper panel 20 areshown as cut-outs or openings 30, 31 and 32 formed in wall 22 adjacentdepression 25. These openings are sized to accommodate various types ofservice, such as containers of beverages, dessert, condiments,dressings, etc., as illustrated in phantom in FIG. 4. The space betweenpanels 20 and 21 receives the bottom ends of such containers whichconveniently rest on lower panel 21. Encircling each opening is adepending lip or rim 33 which is sufiiciently flexible to make grippingengagement with the walls of the service containers and thereby securethem in tray 10 against inadvertent dislodgement. The remaining portionsof wall 22 surrounding the service openings are suflicient to preventexcessive weakening of the upper panel and thus retain the desiredrigidity of the tray.

FIGURE is a section of tray taken through both food area 11 and servicearea 12, again illustrating the desirable structural aspects of thespaced wall construction. It will be noted that except for the presenceof the openings 30, 31 and 32 in upper panel 20, an irregular butcontinuous wall defined by rim 24, inclined wall 23, planar wall 22,depression 25 and lips 33 comprises the top structure of the tray. Thus,although separately flexible, the two panels 20 and 21 when firmlybonded together at their rims in spaced relation provide a trayconstruction of high strength and improved rigidity.

Another form of the invention is illustrated in FIGS. 6 and 7. This formis a circular fibre plate 40 geometrically similar to well known typesof paper plates. Its construction, however, is of separately formeddishshaped upper and lower panels 41, 42 assembled in spaced apartrelation. As in the preferred embodiment, these panels are bondedtogether at their peripheral edges with the upper panel being shallowerthan the lower panel and disposed in recessed relation therein.

The invention has been described as particularly suitable for plates andtrays of preformed fibre or paper stock. It will be understood, ofcourse, that the invention may be practiced with plastics and othermaterials suitable for the manufacture of disposable trays. It will alsobe understood that the upper and lower panels comprising trays 10 and 40may be impregnated with resin, coated with plastic film, or otherwisetreated to resist moisture attack.

It is thought that the invention and many of its attendant advantageswill be understood from the foregoing description and it will beapparent that various changes may be made in the form, construction andarrangement of the parts without departing from the spirit and scope ofthe invention or sacrificing all of its material advantages, the formhereinbefore described being merely a preferred embodiment thereof.

I claim:

1. A disposable serving tray comprising a first dishshaped member havinga central portion as a bottom wall and an upstanding wall surroundingsaid central portion terminating in a peripheral rim, and a seconddish-shaped member shallower than said first member permanently bondedto said rim in recessed overlying relation to said first member withinsaid upstanding wall, said second member having a serving receivingportion spaced from said first member inwardly of said rim, both of saiddishshaped members being formed of relatively thin flexible material.

2. The tray of claim 1 wherein a part of said central portion of saidfirst member is embossed upwardly in supporting engagement with saidserving receiving portion of said second member.

3. A disposable fibre serving tray comprising a first thin walldish-shaped member of flexible fibre having a central portion as abottom wall surrounded by an upstanding wall terminating in a peripherairim, and a second thin wall dish-shaped member of flexible fibresubstantially shallower than said first member having a servingreceiving portion surrounded by a peripheral wall which terminates in arim overlying said rim of said first member, said members beingpermanently bonded together at said rims with said second memberrecessed within said upstanding wall of said first member and saidserving receiving portion spaced from said first mem' her.

4. The container of claim 3 wherein said second member includes at leastone opening adjacent said serving receiving portion, which opening issized to conform substantially to auxiliary food and beverage servicecontainers to thereby permit reception of such a container within saidopening with the bottom end of said container resting upon said centralportion.

5. The container of claim 4 wherein said second mem ber includesflexible tabs adjacent said opening for engaging said service andsecuring it in said opening.

6. The container of claim 3 wherein a part of said central portion isembossed upwardly insupporting engagement with said serving receivingportion of said second member to stiffen said serving receiving portion.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,574,259 Sarlf Feb. 23, 1926 2,549,440 Enro Apr. 17, 1951 2,709,904Boughton June 7, 1955 2,766,919 Randall Oct. 16, 1956

1. A DISPOSABLE SERVING TRAY COMPRISING A FIRST DISHSHAPED MEMBER HAVINGA CENTRAL PORTION AS A BOTTOM WALL AND AN UPSTANDING WALL SURROUNDINGSAID CENTRAL PORTION TERMINATING IN A PERIPHERAL RIM, AND A SECONDDISH-SHAPED MEMBER SHALLOWER THAN SAID FIRST MEMBER PERMANENTLY BONDEDTO SAID RIM IN RECESSED OVERLYING RELATION TO SAID FIRST MEMBER WITHINSAID UPSTANDING WALL, SAID SECOND MEMBER HAVING A SERVING RECEIVINGPORTION SPACED FROM SAID FIRST MEMBER INWARDLY OF SAID RIM, BOTH OF SAIDDISHSHAPED MEMBERS BEING FORMED OF RELATIVELY THIN FLEXIBLE MATERIAL.